Pregnant, Redundant and can't pay mortgage

cleagarr_2

Hi

REALLY need some advice... have trawled the web but with no joy.

My wife is a teacher and is pregnant and has just been told she will be made redundant on September 1st. Our baby is due on the 9th. Once she is made redundant we will not be able to pay our mortgage. I have two questions;

1) I am now in negative equity and the mortgage is due for renewal in October. it is currently £1400 (interest and capital). I can apply for new rates in June; if I go for interest only for a couple of years can I a) 'fix' it at a lowish rate and b) do I have to have a savings account to pay money into to pay the balance of at the end of the term (I would only go interest only while my wife is not working and would switch back to I and C). We are with A&L.

2) If I don't do this and call A&L when I can't pay they will switch me to interest-only on a rescue scheme. However, they say I need to be able to prove my wife is "on benefits". Will she be able to be on benefits at this point - she won't be seeking work because she'll be 39 weeks pregnant. What on earth should we do?

Any advice would be really appreciated; with two young kids already we are really stressed out by this.

Thanks

fawd1

hi, congratulations on the pregnancy for starters, and I'm really sorry to hear about your wifes redundancy. She will definitely be entitled to maternity allowance as long as she has been working for 26 out of the 62 weeks leading up to the birth of your child and has earnt over 120 per week. This I believe is for up to 39 weeks and is 120 per week. Your child tax credits will also probably go up substantially, at least by 20 per week (assuming you're entitled to them). Other than that it will be probably be an idea to go on to entitledto and put in your projected figures to see what comes up. When it asks you for age of the child you are currently expecting. just say they were born today to give you a rough idea of what you should get. HTH

fawd1

might also be an idea to take a look at this page, gives all the info re maternity leave and redundancy.

http://www.direct.gov.uk/en/Parents/Moneyandworkentitlements/WorkAndFamilies/Pregnancyandmaternityrights/DG_175088

PennyCrayon_2

Hi,

Have you thought about taking in a couple of lodgers for extra income?

My former landlord took on a huge mortgage at the start of the recession and had two small children. The family had to share the master bedroom(which I imagine was quite tough) However, it seemed to work.

This was the second time they had been made redundant but were obviously prepared this time round.

Just a suggestion.

cleagarr_2

Hi and many thanks fawd1.

Do you know when she can start claiming maternity allowance - is it when she would normally be entitled to start maternity leave - her intention was to start maternity leave on 1st Sept.

Does anyone have a (simple) guide to the interest-only option?

Thanks

fawd1

well she can only claim for it from when she is on maternity leave, but can apply for it earlier so that it commences on that date. So, she can apply from 15 weeks from the due date of the baby and specify that she would like to claim from the 1st of September. I would send off the claim as early as possible to be honest as it can take a while. Was almost eight weeks until mine came through, although that could be outside the norm. Can't help in regards to the mortgage I'm afraid, but hope the rest is useful.

fawd1

sorry just wanted to add, that basically she can claim from up to 15 weeks before baby is due, but don't forget this then takes time away from after the baby has been born.

Prudent

I am wondering if she should start her maternity leave earlier. As a teacher she will be entitled to a fair bit of maternity leave on full pay. Teaching is exhausting when you are heavily pregnant and as she will not get the benefit of her full teaching maternity pay after redundancy, it may be an idea to benefit earlier?

When I was on maternity leave during school holidays I got double pay. Holiday pay plus maternity pay. She may be better going on maternity leave before the summer holidays and claim this as it can be put away to help with the mortgage.

Just some thoughts

Fire_Fox

Have you looked into Support for Mortgage Interest?
http://www.direct.gov.uk/en/MoneyTaxAndBenefits/BenefitsTaxCreditsAndOtherSupport/On_a_low_income/DG_180321
Or other benefits such as council tax benefit:
https://www.entitledto.co.uk
When you say you won't be able to pay the mortgage, are you aware that all the debt charities consider rent, mortgage, council tax and food to be your priority bills? Any other creditors can be offered token payments of £1 a month - template letters on the Debt-free Wannabe board. This is the budget planner the DFW board use:
http://www.makesenseofcards.com/soacalc.html

cleagarr_2

Prudent wrote: »

I am wondering if she should start her maternity leave earlier. As a teacher she will be entitled to a fair bit of maternity leave on full pay. Teaching is exhausting when you are heavily pregnant and as she will not get the benefit of her full teaching maternity pay after redundancy, it may be an idea to benefit earlier?

When I was on maternity leave during school holidays I got double pay. Holiday pay plus maternity pay. She may be better going on maternity leave before the summer holidays and claim this as it can be put away to help with the mortgage.

Just some thoughts

Thanks, but I'm sure you only get one type of pay - maternity or regular salary (paid during the holidays). We're hoping to negotiate maternity salary as it is not a cost actually borne by the school (which is cost-cutting) and rather is paid by the LA or so I'm told. Trying to check that out today.

DCodd

cleagarr wrote: »

Hi

REALLY need some advice... have trawled the web but with no joy.

My wife is a teacher and is pregnant and has just been told she will be made redundant on September 1st. Our baby is due on the 9th. Once she is made redundant we will not be able to pay our mortgage. I have two questions;

1) I am now in negative equity and the mortgage is due for renewal in October. it is currently £1400 (interest and capital). I can apply for new rates in June; if I go for interest only for a couple of years can I a) 'fix' it at a lowish rate and b) do I have to have a savings account to pay money into to pay the balance of at the end of the term (I would only go interest only while my wife is not working and would switch back to I and C). We are with A&L.

2) If I don't do this and call A&L when I can't pay they will switch me to interest-only on a rescue scheme. However, they say I need to be able to prove my wife is "on benefits". Will she be able to be on benefits at this point - she won't be seeking work because she'll be 39 weeks pregnant. What on earth should we do?

Any advice would be really appreciated; with two young kids already we are really stressed out by this.

Thanks

Of course the question to be asked is, was your wife informed that she was at risk of redundnacy and what critera was used to select her for redundancy?

Was she chosen to be made redundant while she was pregnant or
because she was pregnant?

Are other teachers in her faculty being made redundant too? If not, are any of them pregnant etc etc.

Basically was the selection process fair?